The Mutual Ally: The Juushin Resistance
Aoi was sitting on the porch outside, her sister next to her, rethinking about the events of last night. "...how could he say that...?" Kyuui, of course, was rather distraught, barely able to keep her emotions in after hearing those dreaded words that escaped her father's lips. She held her face in her hands, sobbing quietly in an attempt to relieve the pain. "...why would he say that about Mom...?" She continued to repeat the question like a broken record, a montra that seemed to never wish to silence itself. Aoi sat there, Haiiro on her lap, as she looked off into space. She wasn't as disturbed about what her father had said as Kyuui was. He had tried to suffocate them all, Kyuui, herself, and Adela inside a cave, so it was common knowledge, to her anyway, that Taiki wasn't exactly fond on their mother. She relayed her thoughts to Kyuui. "I thought he had changed from that..." Kyuui muttered hoarsely. "He was actually showing kindness towards her for once... he was being a true father to us both..." She couldn't bring herself to continue, and instead went on with sobbing quietly once more. "I wish he had.." Aoi murmured, scratching Haiiro behind the ears. "I think he needs someone to help work him through this Hollow hatred of his." "How...?" "I don't know, since I've never heard of shrinks like that." Aoi replied. "I just wish someone could." "....I can't help but wonder what Mom'll think..." "Yeah...pity we never found her last night." Aoi sighed, still scratching Haiiro. "What?!" That immediately alerted Kyuui from her troubled state. "She still didn't come home?!" She spoke in a rather alarmed manner. "No." Aoi replied. "I'm beginning to wonder what the heck she's doing." "....what if something happened to her?" Kyuui muttered, apprehension crawling into her mind once more. "Kaa-chan is-" Right as Aoi was about to say that, the very woman in question strolled through the front gate, looking slightly annoyed. "Mom!!!" Immediately, Kyuui rushed forward, embracing the woman in a large hug. "We were sooo worried about you!" She said immediately. "You were so late, I thought something happened to you!" It would be her that was oblivious to Adela's obvious annoyance. Adela smiled a strained smile as she embraced the elder daughter. Aoi walked over, holding Haiiro and it was she who caught her mother's facial expression. "Kaa-chan is something wrong?" "In a way yes." Adela replied. "Where's Ahatake?" "In the house." Aoi replied. "Hm?" Kyuui released her mother in order to give her a puzzled look. "What about Ahatake-ojii?" "I have to talk to him." Adela replied. "Come in if you like." She added, walking into the house. "All right!" Kyuui was immediate to agree, eager to get her mind off of the trouble with Taiki any way possible. "C'mon, Aoi! Let's go inside!" She urged her sister. Adela entered the room to see Ahatake sitting in a chair, reading the newspaper. "Ahatake!" Ahatake looked up, removing his reading glasses as he did do. "Adela?" Ahatake said, smiling. "About time you got back. Where the heck have you been." "Under questioning in jail." She said huffily. "...huh?" A dumbfounded look was now on Kyuui's face, and she stared at Adela blankly. "...why?" Was the first intelligent question that came from her mouth. Adela sat down in the nearest armchair. "Question on the whereabouts of Tereya. I heard she's dead, and yet when they took the body away, someone came and took it. They haven't an idea who it was, but because I was one of the last seen with her, they got to me first." That drew a gasp from Kyuui. "Will that mean we'll be questioned, too?" She asked, frowning out of worry. "We all were with her, too!" "We probably will be." Adela replied. "I'm not so sure. I'm more concerned about why someone took Tereya's body." "Me too." Ahatake murmured. Could this be a good sign? Or something bad? "Maybe Grandma's alive...?" Kyuui suggested half-heartedly, putting on a rather weak smile. Though, she she herself had doubted it; her body had suffered several bullet wounds to the chest when she finally went down. Stats didn't look too good in their favor, it seemed. Ahatake smiled as well. "It is a possibility." "What's this about Kaa-san being alive?" It was Taiki. He was leaning against one of the doorways that led to the room they were in, arms folded across his chest, and expression rather serious compared to his usually cheerful one. Adela spoke up. "The police question me about her whereabouts. Apparently someone took her body from the ones that killed her and they don't know why." Taiki looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "Maybe some sort of processing? Preservation?" He suggested. "Maybe they wanted her body to remember the incident, or maybe they're some sick freaks who just love to..." He trailed off for a moment. "...you know." Adela and Ahatake's eyes twitched and Aoi gagged and Kyuui gasped. "Not funny Tou-san." Aoi muttered. "Hey, I'm just throwing that out there...." Adela shook her head to clear out the mental image. "I don't find it funny in the slightest, but I do think there is a chance she may be alive. If only she'd listened to me and gotten a job." "I feel your pain." Ahatake replied. Taiki smiled, obviously amused at the thought. "Well, if she is alive, maybe the people who saved her actually gave her one." He suggested. "Maybe she'll come back with a big ol, fat wad of cash because of all the hard work she's done!" It was obvious sarcasm; he knew Tereya wasn't that much of a hard worker. Ahatake laughed. "Fat chance. Anyway, I think we should look into this." Kyuui frowned. "How? The only ones that would know where she is would be the ones that got the body, as well as the officers. But, considering they're either dead or disappeared long from the scene..." She trailed off, letting the information sink in. Silently, Taiki praised himself for having such an influence on the girl. "True...and I doubt whoever took her would be in a place that isn't built out of Seki Seki.." Ahatake murmured. "Where should we start looking?" Taiki added. "How should we start looking?" "Not sure. Considering the fact that wherever she is may be concealed with Seki Seki, she could be across the street and we wouldn't know." Once again, Taiki scoffed. "Well, there goes the simple sensing..." He muttered in slight annoyance. "But, either way, I doubt the people who took her would hide in plain public. These officers are like hounds, after all." "The best place to hide something is in plain sight." Adela recited. "Or so humans say." "And these guys practically stem off of the humans. I bet they've thought of that, too!" "Then wear do you suggest?" It wasn't Adela who asked but Ahatake. "Underground?" "Nope." A rather smug smirk came across Taiki's face. "But I think that'd be a good place to start. Thanks for the suggestion, Tou-san." Ahatake's hollowfied eyes searched the room. "And how do you suggest we take this search of the underground? Did your Zanpakuto suddenly become a drill?" Taiki shrugged. "Well, it would take a bit of energy control, as well as a need for spiritual sense and cooperation from everyone, but I think we could get the job done." He answered. "Sounds fun." "Oh, isn't it?" The white-haired man joked. "So when do we do this?" Aoi asked. "And will we need Midoriko?" "It'd help speed up the process." Taiki replied coolly. "Who's gonna be the nice person to find her?" He looked around. "I'll go." Aoi said. "It won't take long." After a glance at her father, Kyuui said immediately afterwards, "I'll go too!" She stood up to Aoi's side before anyone could argue. Aoi was surprised, but glad nonetheless. "Alright, let's go." She said and they were out the door. No Prejudice For The Hunted "Sorry, Aoi, if this is too sudden..." Kyuui muttered, careful to keep up with Aoi as they walked. "But, I just can't be around Tou-san right now, and...well..." She trailed off for a moment. "...you know." She finished sheepishly, shrugging her shoulders in a slightly helpless manner. Aoi wrapped her arm around Kyuui and brought her closer to her. "Of course. I understand." She said, smiling in a consoling manner. Kyuui gladly accepted the embrace, returning the favor. "Thanks, Aoi." She said gratefully. "Though, we do know where Midoriko actually is, right?" "Where else? With Kibou." Aoi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Ok..." Kyuui breathed a sigh of relief, glad that they were thinking the same. "Just checking to make sure." "Where else can she be?" Aoi asked. "Hasn't been torn away from that boy in awhile. She practically lives there." "Well, we all have our own plan for the day..." Kyuui said thoughtfully. "I just thought she would at least be visiting somewhere else, a public place like a restaurant, theatre, or something..." "Nope. Kibou is her life." Aoi said, sighing. "It's a wonder that she doesn't get bored over there." Kyuui smiled. "Well, it's a good thing that she isn't. No one wants to be bored for so long." "Yup." Aoi agreed. "17 years of boredome." They approached the door and rapped loudly. However, this time... no one answered the door. But behind it, there were a collection of voices, loud and seemingly argumentive in tone. Two of them were Kyashi's and Ryuka's, while other voices were seemingly foreign. However, there was one voice that Ahatake himself would probably recognize. "...I told you, we don't know anything!" "You're wasting my time." It was a mechanical, cold, and calculate voice that chilled Kyuui down to the bone. Who could it be...? Aoi decided to opened the door and it creaked. Guns cocked in her direction. Through the door were three soldiers, with their rifles aimed in her direction. Kyuui's eyes widened in shock, and out of fear, she grabbed Aoi and pulled her away from the door in an attempt to hide both of them. "Sssh!" She hissed. "Why are you trying to hide me?" "If we get caught, we're going to get in trouble with those police!" Kyuui whispered. "I don't want to have that on my To Do list right now!" "Well we have to get Midoriko!" Aoi hissed back. "You want to try stepping through that door and not get shot, or immediately captured?" Kyuui asked in frustration, peeking through the crack. "She's probably in the same predicament right now--" "Where is she? Where is that woman?" The mechanical voice once again rang out, cutting her off. This time, it was Ryuka's annoyed voice that sounded in an answer. "Well, maybe we'd tell you after you'd let us tend to our kid--" "SILENCE!" Kyuui swallowed hard. "I really think we should get out of here and get the family." She said quietly. Then they heard Midoriko's voice. "What the heck is going on down here?" "You are hereby under questioning." The mechanical voice stated. "Do not attempt to resist. Now, I've heard from earlier reports that the Kurosaki family had taken regular visits to you. I'm sure that would involve that little killer, hm?" "They don't know anything, either!" Kyashi insisted. "You make a very poor liar, woman. Now, tell me where are you hiding the killer!" Midoriko spoke up again and her tone was very polite. "Officer, I've been all around this house for the past few weeks and they aren't hiding anyone here at all. If they were I'd have seen them by now." For a brief second, everything was silent. Then, the mechanical voice spoke once more. "I think it's time to take a visit to the Kurosaki house this time. I'm sure the direct members of the family will tell us exactly where the bitch is. Let's go!" Kyuui's eyes widened, and she promptly released Aoi in a reflexive manner. "We have to get out of here!" Aoi and Kyuui ran to the side of the house, behind a dumpster where they would be perfectly hidden. "This could be trouble." It wasn't soon after that they both saw the intimidating figures of the soldiers, all wielding their rifles as they headed outward. They shuffled silently behind a rather calm Damian Seken, who was leading the march with a rather confident gait. Kyuui held her breath as she watched them pass by the house. Aoi and Kyuui snuck into the house when they were sure it was safe. However, they had barely gotten to the door. "Hey! You there!" Immediately, rifles were clicked in their direction. "Stop where you are!" The voice ordered, the one of a lone soldier who had the intelligence to turn around and spot them, unfortunately. "Put your hands behind your head, and don't move!" "What is it--" Damian himself had turned around, stopping his complaint when he saw the two girls. "Ah... the two fresh spawn of the litter." He muttered to himself, clearly amused. He turned towards the soldier who spotted them and nodded in his direction. In turn, the soldier lowered his rifle. Aoi swore and turned around, but did not put her hands behind her head. "What? We're just paying friends a visit." Kyuui allowed herself to say nothing. However, she did see something out of the corner of her eye; at some houses, there seemed to be a shifting of the windows, followed by tense movement behind the blinds. It was a bit odd to watch... were the citizens actually making a spectator sport out of this? "Those friends of yours happen to be under law enforcement." Damian stated. "I advise that you leave to your own house." "Um...our Aunt in here and we need her?" Aoi said, though it sounded like a question. "Can we please get her and then get right out?" "I don't care. Leave now, or I shall apprehend you both." Kyuui swore she heard a click from the house windows. "Fine, not in the mood to deal with you lot." Aoi snapped. "Onee-chan, let's get home." "Sure thing, Ao--" BANG! Their short conversation was immediately interrupted by a loud gunshot, followed by a loud scream of pain. Kyuui's eyes widened in shock upon what she saw; a bleeding gash in Damian's arm, the arm itself on the verge of falling off. He staggered back, leaning against the wall and groaning in the shocking pain. But that wasn't all. From the windows, several bursts of reiatsu were fired upon the unsuspecting soldiers. The bullets tore through their body armor before they had a chance to react, and so fhey fell like sacks of potatoes. They couldn't even bring their rifles to aim, as their lives were helplessly extinguished. "Well, aren't we on time, today?" A cool-headed voice called from the rooftops. "What the heck?' Aoi was shocked and looked around for the source of the voice. "Up here, girl." Damian was the first to look up. "You...!" He growled in anger, struggling to stand. On the roof of a small house stood a lone figure, dressed up in the very same Shinigami uniform as the dead soldiers. A small pistol was in one hand, freshly smoking. In the house he stood on, several differently uniformed figures came into view, each one holding up arms against the lone Yuurei trooper. "Seken..." The man on the rooftop said calmly. "It's been a while..." "Who are you?" Aoi asked the man. "Juushin Igen's what they call me." The man replied, lowering the gun. "I'm here to help the both of you." Aoi grinned. "Nice to meet you Juushin-san." She said. "Um...could you keep those bozos busy? We kinda have to get someone." "You got it, kid. That's why we were here--" Abruptly, the sound of an alarm cut him off. His expression turned stern as he looked in the direction of where it was coming from. "You'd better hurry. Reinforcements are going to arrive at any minute." He turned his stare towards the wounded Damian. "You'd better get the fuck outta here... or should I shoot you again for good measure?" Damian growled, but decided to heed the man's words. Without hesitation, he turned and vanished from sight. "Thanks!" Aoi said and ran into the house for a split second, and came back pulling a protesting Midoriko out. "Why the hell are you dragging me out?" Midoriko asked. "Because, we have to go find Tereya-baa and Tou-san said you're necessary!" Aoi replied. "They're coming!" One of Juushin's soldiers shouted, the rest of them taking up positions behind various forms of cover. Up ahead, a platoon of soldiers could be seen moving in to rush the small, but excellently positioned squad. Juushin himself looked upon Aoi when she mentioned Tereya. "Excuse me, young lady..." He muttered, leaping off of the roof and coming to land beside the girl. "Did you just say you were looking for Tereya?" "Yeah." Aoi replied. "She's our grandma and we think she might be alive. Why do you know her?" A smile came across the man's face. "You could say I'm her current keeper." He replied calmly. The three girls turned to look at him. "Kaa-chan is alive then?" Midoriko asked, her voice gleeful. Juushin nodded curtly. "Alive and kicking." He confirmed, smiling out of reaction due to the gleeful look he recieved from Midoriko, as well as the eager look from Kyuui. "Then why hasn't she come back?" Aoi asked. "She's been working for me." Juushin answered honestly. "The Resistance was looking for a new member, and she seemed available, so..." He shrugged, purposefully trailing off. "Oh ok." Aoi said, seemingly accepting that. "Do we get to see her?" "Of course... if you could grab your family and regroup with us in this spot." "Alright!" Aoi said grinning and dragged Kyuui and Midoriko off in the direction of their house. "Hey, Aoi!" Kyuui complained, attempting to free herself from her sister's eager grip. "Don't pull so hard!" Aoi let them go as she broke into a Sonido and they quickly followed. "I didn't think finding Tereya-baa'd be this easy!" "I can't, either..." Kyuui muttered, almost worried as she heard the sounds of gunfire go off faintly behind her. "How can we be so sure to even trust that guy?" "He helped us." Aoi replied. "Unless he's a rapist he's trustworthy." "Aoi, be serious! You know how these guys are! They'd shoot each other in the back if they could get away with it!" "Seeing as he has Kaa-chan, and he did save you two, I don't think he's bad." Midoriko said. "Kyuui, you're just too paranoid." Kyuui scowled indignantly, bristling at what she saw was a potential insult. But she said nothing in particular, only turning her head to glance behind her. Now, the sounds of warfare were clear in the small distance they had opened up between them and their allies. A few stray shots went in their direction, though their aimless nature caused them to miss completely. It didn't take long to arrive back the the Kurosaki house, and Aoi threw open the door. WHAM! The reckless force she used caused the door to slam into the wall when it completely opened, slightly startling her white-haired father into looking up into his direction. He was even more confused when a flustered Kyuui ran through the door shortly afterwards, breathing a bit heavier than normal. "There's someone... who says... he has Tereya-obaa!" She managed to say, before leaning against the wall for support and to regain her breath. "Come on come on come on!" Aoi urged them. "Let's go!" Ahatake looked up. "So someone appears out of nowhere and says they have Tereya. Are you sure they're trustworthy?" The one who would've agreed with him spoke up once more. "Well, they were willing to kill those soldiers that were about to come over and question us!" She stated, pushing herself off of the wall and leaning against it with one hand. "They have to be trustworthy!" She stopped for a minute, took in a deep breath, and held it in for a minute. Aoi chuckled, since Midoriko has told Kyuui that very thing only moments ago. "I think we should check it out." Adela replied. "It beats digging." Taiki huffed. "And I thought digging would be fun..." He said, in a briefly pouting moment before he turned serious once more. "All right. Show us to where this mutual ally actually is..." He said to the two girls, straightening up. Adela laughed. "Taiki, you can dig some other time." She said as she and Ahatake stood up. Ahatake did not laugh, his expression was serious, though in combination with his new eyes, looked rather intimidating. "Fine." He mumured, putting his hands in his pockets. "Let's get over there and try to avoid the rest of us getting killed." "C'mon, quit slouching!" Kyuui said impatiently, now having gained most of her breath back. "Let's go over there before they get overrun!" Without hesitation, she raced back out of the door. Taiki himself wasted no time in following her, making sure not to lose his daughter. Aoi broke into a Shunpo, racing ahead and leading the back, while the rest of them followed. "I hope he's still there." Kyuui's ears perked. From their closing distance, she could hear the bullets still flying, the shouts and battle cries getting louder and louder. Much to her dismay, she could also hear the sounds of engines turning, wheels grinding on asphalt. "I still hear fighting going on... I think he is!" She called out to her sister. "Alright!" Aoi called back. "Everyone try not to get shot!" Ahatake chuckled dryly. They began to see the warzone itself now. On their side were the rebel fighters, some hiding behind cover, others peeking out to fire at the soldiers that were advancing on their position. Less than half of the force had been reduced to nothing but corpses, however, and the Yuurei soldiers were not letting up on them. The only thing that was keeping the defense from falling apart was Juushin himself, using his pistol to pick off targets with deadly accuracy. It was a stalemate, as far as anyone was concerned... At least, until the Kurosakis had come to join them. Aoi, who was at the front, decided to attack. Aiming at the soldiers, she extended her hand, and fired a large, red cero. The soldiers never saw it coming. Too busy focused on the soldiers, the Cero easily made its way through to the offensive barrage, cutting through their knives like a butcher meat cutting through a dead pig. Those who were unfortunate enough to be standing in its way was disintegrated, their screams brief and agonized. But, they wouldn't get time to recover. Kyuui, gritting her teeth, kicked into a Shunpo and hovered a small distance above the ground for a moment. As she descended, she unsheathed swung her sword multiple times consecutively, a series of Bala blasts erupting from the blade. Those blasts connected, knocking other soldiers off of their feet and on the ground. Ahatake took to the air, his hands cupped at his sides and a crimson orb was charging. Thrusting his hands forward, he let the cero go and it tore into the remaining forces. They too suffered the same fate as their comrades, disintegrated into nothing more than pieces of ash. Then... there was silence. No more movement. Every soldier that had dared to face them were now unconscious or dead. The remaining resistance fighters wore varying expressions of relief, sinking down to rest behind their cover. "We...we held them off..." One of them said breathlessly, though still relieved. Juushin himself remained silent, acknowledging the Kurosaki's presence with a lowering of his pistol. Aoi walked over to Juushin. "Ahatake-jii this is the one who saved us. Juushin Igen-san." "I see." Ahatake's eyes turned to Juushin. "Well, you have my gratitude for helping my granddaughters Juushin." Hollow... Juushin's eyes widened slightly as they met the elder Kurosaki's own. A dark vibe chilled his spine, and he felt that familiar vibe of dark energy that imminated faintly from the man. It was the exact same one he had felt from Tereya herself when he had rescued her, though it had been fading away due to her comatose state. He smiled at the thought, twirling his pistol around once before securing it in its holster. "Don't mention it, Ahatake." He said calmly; a guess towards the man's actual name. "You know my name." Ahatake said, surprised. "How?" "I guessed." Juushin answered. "You carry the exact same vibe as your wife. It's not to easy to forget something like that..." Immediately, hope crossed Kyuui's eyes upon his words. "So, she IS alive, after all!" Ahatake grinned and Aoi piped up. "So can we see her now?!" "It's what I promised you, dear..." Juushin said, nodding to all of them. He stepped forward, leaping off of the roof he was on and landing in a crouch position in front of them. "Just follow me, and keep close. You might be surprised at what you see..." Once he stood up, he turned back around and went into the very house he was in. "Yes, sir!" Kyuui nodded, happiness clear in her tone. She rushed to follow the man inside, barely hiding her excitement. Not too far behind was a silent Taiki, arms folded across his chest. Aoi was bounding after Kyuui, while Midoriko lagged a bit with Ahatake and Taiki. Into The Base Juushin approached one of the walls of the house, stopping for a moment. He pressed a palm to it. "You don't know how lucky you are, Kurosaki.." He said softly, not turning to look at them. His palm started to glow with his spiritual energy. "Your wife was just being carried off to be kept in prison, and possibly public execution, before I stepped in to save her. Due to all of the gunshots she took, she looked pretty banged up by the time I found her..." The palm stopped glowing, and with a loud groan, the wall opened up like a door. A cave entrance was revealed, a tunnel of stairs leading down into what seemed like darkness. Ahatake did not respond to him, but Aoi and Kyuui were giggling with happiness. Juushin stepped down onto the first step and started to descend slowly. "We've taken good care of her, made sure that her hunters wouldn't find her. I really don't keep track of the time anymore, but I dare say it feels like several months have passed by ever since that incident." He chuckled. "But I digress. She was a bit resistant at first, but with a few words of encouragement, she accepted her place." "Sounds like her." Ahatake replied, suddenly appearing next to Juushin, when he had monetarily been farther behind. "She told me a lot about you and her..." "Hm? Like?" "Mmm..." Juushin was now a bit reluctant on divulging the information, his mind flashing back to Tereya. "I don't think it's best for me to tell you... rather than her to show. It'd be rude of me if I just spread someone's possibly private opinion around..." At this moment, they reached the bottom floor, the tunnel now spreading into several sections. "What do you mean for her to show me?" This time, Juushin didn't bother to respond, only choosing another tunnel in which to go through. As they walked, the sounds of many people talking and laughing echoed throughout the chambers. It was the sounds of the refugees, going back and forth through their own sections of the cave. Speaking of which, the cave itself was becoming less primitive, and more temple-like in structure as they traveled deeper into its belly. "How deep is this place?" Midoriko called up to the front. "It's nearly as large as the main city." Juushin said in reply, his path stopping in front of a large, metallic door. "But it's not very deep... we didn't want to dig ourselves a grave, of course." Raising his fist to the door, he knocked three times. A small peephole opened up, revealing two eyes that stared back at him. "What's the password?" Juushin frowned in annoyance. "I'm not even going to tell you to shut up." A snicker was in response. "Come on in..." The door promptly opened, revealing a rather large, cafe-like room. On opposite sides of the walls were bed-like tables, a few people taking places in one of them. In the middle of the room, a few tables were set up, drinks on some of them, and people sitting in the chairs. In the back of the room were three mid-large pillars, and three people were sitting on it, apparently talking about something. Two of them were occupied by only who Juushin recognized: Tokoshiki and Chidori. A third one was occupied by none other than Tereya. Aoi and Kyuui both ran in Tereya's direction. "Tereya-baa!" Aoi cried. "You are alive." "No, wait..." Tereya was saying, eyes drifting lazily towards the sound of the voices she didn't recognize at first. "If it's important, I'll find--" But then, after doing a double take, her eyes widened, and her expression was nothing less than surprised as she saw the two female Kurosaki run towards her. "...Kyuui? Aoi?" She muttered, unable to say anything else. Then, her eyes fell amongst the rest of her family, nearly unable to take it all in. behind her, Chidori allowed a small smile to cross her face. "It's always good to see a long-needed reunion..." She thought, watching the scene take place. Midoriko chuckled as she walked over to her mother. "Hey Kaa-chan." While everyone walked over to Tereya, Ahatake himself was feeling slight apprehension. As nice as it was to see his wife alive and well, he could shake off a feeling that something was different. "Well..." A smirk crawled across Tereya's face, expression of surprise long shot to hell. "It's about time you guys found me." She said, with that oh-so-trademark taunting tone in her words. "Whatcha do, stop off and make some lunch?" She allowed herself to push off of the pillar and onto the ground, standing to face her family. Ahatake walked over to Tereya, slower than the others, his eyes scanning the room. "Yo." "Yo?" Tereya's eyes widened indignantly. "That's all you have to say?" She stepped directly in front of him, and raised a finger to roughly poke him in the chest. "We haven't seen each other for whoever knows how long, and all you can think to say of is one word?! You bastard..." This caused Taiki to chuckle under his breath, as well as Juushin and Chidori. "Sorry." Ahatake replied, his eyes shifting to the ceiling. "It's great to see you're alive. I just feel...off." Tereya scoffed. "You sound more bored than anything right now!" She retorted, pulling her finger off of his chest. "Well, what's making you feel off all of a sudden?" She looked off to the side in skepticism. "Or did you think it to be normal for me to be dead....?" "No, I don't want you to be dead." Ahatake replied. "But that off feeling is coming from you. Something about your spiritual pressure." "Oh!" That's when Juushin perked up. "Tereya, dear. Would you mind leading us to one of the sparring rooms? I believe it's time to show your family what you've learned." The said woman paused for a minute, then a thoughtful grin came across her face. "Sure thing, Juu..." She said, clearly anticipating the words. "C'mon... I promise I won't leave you behind..." She turned on her heel and began to walk out through another door, quicker than Juushin himself did. Ahatake looked puzzled. "What she's learned?" Just then, a young purple haired girl appeared next to Ahatake. "You should go." She said quietly, her blank eyes meeting Ahatake's hollowfied ones. "It will put you at ease." Ahatake, still puzzled, followed, along with the rest of the family. Tereya led them into one of the sparring rooms she had trained in herself. In order to sustain the mass of spiritual pressure, the room's size was, of course, large. It was bare and empty, save for some torches that lit what would've been otherwise a dark room. She herself took place in center position, hand on the hilt of her sword. Taiki himself, despite his intelligence, was as stumped as Ahatake as he watched his mother prepare herself. Juushin and Chidori, however, had anticipating grins on their faces as they watched what was about to happen. First Step. Tereya closed her eyes, her body relaxing itself from any tension she would have felt otherwise. Then, she summoned her energy, using what she had learned before in Chidori's teachings. The manifestation was taking place - a mass amount of red reiatsu was freed from her body, twisting and working its way to the ceiling of the room. It gave off great power, light waves being driven from it and into the audience. Yet, it retained a gentle nature to it, almost as if it was simply a breeze in the outside. Ahatake's eyes widened. What was she doing? Aoi was absorbed into the sight, her mouth gaping slightly. Second Step. "Tear It Up, Nokogiri." Upon the command, all of that spiritual energy formed into a sphere around her as she drew her sword, twisting and turning like a tornado. She was enveloped completely from view now. The spiritual energy had turned a little bit violent, the shockwave's power increasing in the slightest. Tereya held her sword out defensively, as if an opponent would attack her at any minute. Third Step. "Ban...kai." Her sword immediately shifted into another completely different design, a copy of it materializing in the other hand. She settled into a stance, lowering one of her swords to the ground for a moment. Then, summoning that deadly energy once more, she muttered one word before her next action: "Chēnsō." Then, she swung. It was like a tidal wave to the city. The immense power of the energy blast that resulted shook the very room itself, its bright light consuming much of its audience's vision. It roared with its energy with an animalistic howl as it connected with the wall, tearing straight through the rubble as easily as if it was butter. The winds picked up as the attack commensed, hitting the audience full force. Then, it stopped. There stood Tereya, holding the two blades in each hand. A triumphant smirk was made out of her lips. She waited ever so patiently for their reactions to her magnificent display. Aoi was in awe and Midoriko was clapping. Ahatake was grinning. "So thats what it was about. You learned Bankai." "Not only that..." Tereya added, balancing both blades on her shoulders. "But I was taught a bit about the control of my spiritual energy. Thus, the reason for that little light show you seen before I released it." She allowed her eyes to turn in their direction, rather proud of her achievement. Needless to say, Taiki, as well as Kyuui, was stunned beyond belief. Even when wielding her Hollow Mask, Tereya had never displayed that sort of power in combat. Before, her spiritual energy was wild, uncontrollable, and restricted to limited levels, inhibiting her perfomance. But now, as they stared at the whole in the wall, they understood how rapidly her potential had expanded. "Wow..." Kyuui said, staring on at her grandmother with nothing more than dumbfounded bemusement. "That...that was..." "Amazing..." Taiki finished, unable to stop the smile from coming across his face. "That's the best energy control I've ever seen! And in such a short time, too!" This made Tereya roll her eyes. "Oh, stop, I'm blushing." She drawled sarcastically. "That explains the feeling I was getting." Ahatake said. "You improved and it shook me it seems." "Oh, did I, now?" Tereya asked, smiling. "The great and terrible Ahatake, shaken by little old me? I'm flattered..." Ahatake chuckled. "Call it surprise." "Well...I'm glad that's all settled, then...." Juushin piped up, clapping his hands in satisfaction. "Now, what will you do?" "All depends on what Tereya wants." Ahatake replied. "Given her love of manslaughter, she might not want to leave here yet." "Excuse me?" That was when another voice spoke up, Chidori's indignant tone breaking the conversation. "What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded, glowering at Ahatake. Juushin's eyes widened in surprise, and he half-heartedly raised a hand up in an effort to silence her. "Now, don't get rash, Hime-chan..." He started. "I assume you spend your time killing officers." Ahatake replied. "I'm not saying thats a bad thing, considering that I blasted away a group of them earlier, it'd make me a hypocrite. I'm just saying if that is what you do, then a place like this is right up Tereya's alley." Chidori scowled. "There's more to this than simply killing the enemy here. Don't make us sound to be a bunch of butchers!" She said defensively, raising an accusing finger towards the elder Kurosaki. "If anything, we'd like to keep as many lives in existence here as possible!" Ahatake chuckled. "Then I applaud your cause. Just saying Tereya probably likes the killing involved." Tereya shrugged in a rather non-chalant manner. "It takes the boredom away... but, it wasn't the only reason why I helped 'em along." She spoke up. "They offered me a way to get stronger, so I wouldn't have to be one of the people who always needed saving all the time. That commanding officer bastard won't be taking this one off guard a second time... because I'll slit his throat before he can aim that barrel." Ahatake chuckled. "Despite your new power, it's nice to see your attitude is the same." "Thank you...now..." The sword copy promptly faded away form her hands, and the original returned to its normal state. "You said before it all depended on what I'' have to do. Well...at least for the moment...I'm going to stay with these guys. They've been fighting like hell in order to liberate Yuurei from the control of those overzealous utopians. The least I could do is support 'em all the way." Ahatake grinned. "Sounds like you." He turned to Juushin. "So this is all about fighting the government then?" "The correct term would be ''changing, but yes." Juushin explained. "It's an effort to lift the restraints on Yuurei and reform it, to make it into a true paradise and not the one of a totalitarian regime. People don't deserve to live in fear up there, terrorized by those monsters called law enforcement." His tone became noticeably bitter, and his expression solemn. "Sounds interesting." Ahatake replied. He thought for a moment. "Why don't you consider us your allies?" The man asked. Midoriko grinned. "I'd jump at a chance to get to fight some powerful people." "And I still owe that officer payback for those bullet wounds." Ahatake added. A smile came across Juushin's face. "Firstly, if you want to know, that officer's name is Damian Seken." He explained. "One of the most feared out of the Yuurei army. Only person who's dared to stand up to him was none other than me... and, well, you. He serves as the King's "hound", per say, taking direct orders straight from the master. Secondly..." He folded his arms across his chest. "We'll take all the help we can get, as long as it's reliable." Ahatake grinned. "That counts us in then!" "Good to hear. Now..." Juushin closed his eyes in thought. "Your house is probably overridden by those soldiers up there, and the entire city's going to be put on high alert. For now, you're going to have to shelter with us." "Uh, I have to get back to Kyashi's." Midoriko said. "I can't be away from Kibou for too long." "You're not going anywhere." Juushin contradicted, giving her a stern look. "Now's not the time to go back up to the surface. You'd be dead just after sticking your head out." He looked at the door they had entered from. "Besides, your friends aren't going to stick to one spot for long, now that the dogs are on the prowl..." "Then bring them down here." Midoriko suggested. "I'll do that when we're free to roam around again." Midoriko scowled in the man's direction, but did not say anything else. Aoi could not suppress a giggle. "Chidori." Said girl looked up from her own thoughts, eyes glancing over at Juushin curiously. "Hm?" She questioned. "Be a dear and a tour guide for Tereya's family, would you?" He asked politely. "After you show 'em to their rooms, come back down here. "We need to discuss our next moves." Understandingly, Chidori nodded, turning towards the rest of the family. "Please follow me..." She said softly, a small smile coming across her face. "And try not to get lost." She slipped through the doorway and back into the halls. Midoriko was still scowling and muttering, "I hate him, I hate him I hate him" under her breath as the family followed Chidori. When the door finally shut, Juushin turned towards the group that remained, including Tereya. "All right... here's what we're gonna do..." He started, clapping his hands together. "Remember that officer...?" The End